Monday, October 22, 2012

Romanticism and Progressive Education

The women in my family were not only romanticists, but
progressive thinkers who brought these ideals into their work as educators. They believed that schools should subscribe
to those ideas and practices that aimed to make schools more effective agencies
of a democratic society. They shared the
conviction that democracy means active participation by all citizens in social, political and economic decisions that will
affect their lives. The education of engaged citizens, according to this
perspective, involves two essential elements: (1).Respect for diversity, meaning
that each individual should be recognized for his or her own abilities,
interests, ideas, needs, and cultural identity, and (2). the development ofcritical, socially engaged
intelligence, which enables individuals to understand and participate
effectively in the affairs of their community in a collaborative effort to achieve
a common good.

Romantic education is often conflated with Progressive education.
John Dewey's progressive education was entirely distinct from Romantic education,
but early in the 20th century the two philosophies became thoroughly entangled
with one another, so that, for many, the term "progressive education"
now calls to mind a set of ideas that is more Romantic than Deweyan.

Romantic educators seek to soften divisions between
subject areas and to provide a cohesive, holistic education, whose different
topics flow naturally together in the creation of a single, interlinked body of
knowledge. If learning is natural, then it needs to take place in holistic
form, where multiple domains of skill and knowledge are integrated into
thematic units and projects instead of being taught as separate subjects.

Unfortunately, these romantic/progressive principles
were not always the predominant philosophy in American education. State systems
of public schooling have primarily attempted to achieve cultural uniformity,
not diversity, and to educate dutiful, not critical citizens utilizing an
assessment system based on standardized testing. Whereas the former focused on teaching and
learning in the classroom, the latter focused on governance and on the
structure and purpose of the curriculum.

Contemporary education tends to focus on creativityas a phenomenon that is separate from
and independent of such conscious mental processes asmemorizationand the use of logic. Indeed, it is an
almost universally accepted proposition of contemporary pseudoscience that
one-half of the human brain is responsible for such conscious processes as the
use of logic, while the other half is responsible for “creativity,” as though,
when examined, the halves of the brain revealed this information all by
themselves, perhaps in the form of bearing little labels respectively marked
“Logic Unit, Made in Hong Kong” and “Creativity Unit, Made in Woodstock, New
York.” -George Reisman

Today, however, scholars, educators and activists are
rediscovering the work of the romantic/progressives and exploring its relevance
to a "postmodern" age, an age of global capitalism and cultural
change, and an age in which the ecological health of the planet itself is
seriously threatened. At the heart of the new wave of contemporary education thinking
lies a pedagogy that emphasizes flexibility and critical thinking.

The new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) seek to
establish organic relationships with communities through curricula that
confronts broad social issues in real-world settings. Success on these
standards will require basing instruction on the needs, interests and
developmental stage of the child; it will require teaching students the skills
they need in order to learn any subject, instead of focusing on transmitting a
particular subject; it will require promoting discovery and self-directed
learning by the student through active engagement; it will require having
students work on projects that express student purposes and that integrate the
disciplines around socially relevant themes; and it will require promoting
values of community, cooperation, tolerance, justice and democratic equality.

Based on the personal stories of the women I have
chronicled in this blog, one can see that their vision for educational reform
has been passed down through the generations. Because we were strong enough to
challenge traditional beliefs, we were often met with roadblocks to career
advancement. Not only were we women, but we were women with strong opinions who
were not afraid to make them known. As our story continues, you will see more clearly, the impact of
this conflict on both our personal relationships and our careers.

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About Me

Wanda Pyle grew up on a farm in the Flint Hills of Kansas and draws upon this background in much of her writing. She is currently living with her husband in Claremont, California. She enjoys reading, writing and spending time with her grandchildren. Her debut novel chronicles the lives of three generations of women through economic hardship, war, and eventually, self-reliance. She is currently at work on her second novel.